One of the first verses of Scripture I learned as a young Christian (and probably the verse most believers can quote from memory) is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
As I have grown in Christ, I understand that the entire Bible, every verse, is the revelation of God’s love for humankind. From Genesis to Revelation, it is the story of Christ’s unflagging desire to redeem and reconcile human beings to an eternal fellowship with Him.
How then did I allow the fact that I am a SGL man cause me to develop such a stubborn resistance to receiving and enjoying God’s love? Why are so many Same-Gender-Loving individuals caught in this same spiritual snarl that ties up our fellowship with God and dangerously entangles our whole viewpoint of the Christian life? We know that God is love, but our knowledge of His love runs only skin deep. We know much about sound doctrine; however, our soul is starved for the love of God.
There are some basic factors involved. Perhaps the most obvious is pride, the taproot of sin. It is a devilish snare that promotes the deceptive thinking that once God has rescued us from eternal ruin, we can make it on our own. It binds us in an exhausting, exacting lifestyle that rarely displays Christ’s character and seldom satisfies us. Pride repels the love of God. It breeds self-reliance, short-circuiting our need for love.
Yet beyond pride, I feel there is still a rather common malady that prevents us from even having a clue to what Christ meant when he said, “Now remain in my love” (John 5;19). Jesus used the Greek word agape. This word was seldom used by the Greeks and had little cultural weight, but Jesus and the writers of the New Testament injected it with supernatural significance, using it to express unconditional love of God for the believer.
Unconditional love means this—God love you just the way you are. Isn’t that something we all ache for, to be loved without conditions or stipulations? God loves you when you obey, and he loves you when you err. That doesn’t mean He tolerates sin—He died for it—or that He dilutes its consequences. However, it does mean that His love or you is amazingly steadfast and unchanging.
Perhaps it is because the concept is so alien to the SGL person that we know embarrassingly little about God’s love. However, that can change today. God loves you as much now as He ever will. God’s love is freely bestowed on the SGL individual by His choice. It may sound too good to be true, but it is God’s idea.
Receive it, accept it, and you will never be the same.
As I have grown in Christ, I understand that the entire Bible, every verse, is the revelation of God’s love for humankind. From Genesis to Revelation, it is the story of Christ’s unflagging desire to redeem and reconcile human beings to an eternal fellowship with Him.
How then did I allow the fact that I am a SGL man cause me to develop such a stubborn resistance to receiving and enjoying God’s love? Why are so many Same-Gender-Loving individuals caught in this same spiritual snarl that ties up our fellowship with God and dangerously entangles our whole viewpoint of the Christian life? We know that God is love, but our knowledge of His love runs only skin deep. We know much about sound doctrine; however, our soul is starved for the love of God.
There are some basic factors involved. Perhaps the most obvious is pride, the taproot of sin. It is a devilish snare that promotes the deceptive thinking that once God has rescued us from eternal ruin, we can make it on our own. It binds us in an exhausting, exacting lifestyle that rarely displays Christ’s character and seldom satisfies us. Pride repels the love of God. It breeds self-reliance, short-circuiting our need for love.
Yet beyond pride, I feel there is still a rather common malady that prevents us from even having a clue to what Christ meant when he said, “Now remain in my love” (John 5;19). Jesus used the Greek word agape. This word was seldom used by the Greeks and had little cultural weight, but Jesus and the writers of the New Testament injected it with supernatural significance, using it to express unconditional love of God for the believer.
Unconditional love means this—God love you just the way you are. Isn’t that something we all ache for, to be loved without conditions or stipulations? God loves you when you obey, and he loves you when you err. That doesn’t mean He tolerates sin—He died for it—or that He dilutes its consequences. However, it does mean that His love or you is amazingly steadfast and unchanging.
Perhaps it is because the concept is so alien to the SGL person that we know embarrassingly little about God’s love. However, that can change today. God loves you as much now as He ever will. God’s love is freely bestowed on the SGL individual by His choice. It may sound too good to be true, but it is God’s idea.
Receive it, accept it, and you will never be the same.
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